Wireless networks and wireless computing devices, such as personal digital assistants (PDA) and the like are growing in popularity. Many businesses/homes today have wireless computer networks in place that allow users of wireless computing devices that are connected to the network to access resources on the network such as e-mail, the Internet and data stored on memory devices connected to the network.
As the use of wireless computing devices increases, the desire of wireless computing device users to access such things as e-mail via a wireless network while, for example, visiting a client's business site, has also increased. Typical wireless networks have security measures in place that allow only a user device with permission to access the network. These security measures typically involve encrypting data that is transmitted by a wireless device to the wireless network with a predetermined encryption key. The wireless network receives the data and decrypts the data using the same predetermined encryption key. The wireless device is then able to access the network and be recognized as a user device that has permission to access the network. In order to allow a visiting user to have access to the network via their wireless computing device (visiting device), it is necessary for the network owner to provide the encryption key to the visiting user/visiting device so that data transmitted from the wireless device is encrypted with the proper encryption. By doing so, the visiting device can be used to access e-mail via the Internet. Further, the visiting device can also access other parts of the network. The ability to access other parts of the network is often, however, not desirable. Typically, the only way to revoke the visiting user/visiting devices access to the wireless network is by changing the encryption key. This, however, impacts all users on the wireless network, including resident users, and not just the visiting user/device, and requires all other users to update their devices with the new encryption key. This can be inconvenient, time-consuming and expensive.
One possible solution would be to duplicate the wireless network infrastructure, so that a separate (duplicate) wireless network is provided for visiting users/devices, while the primary wireless network is provided for non-visiting users/devices. The duplicate wireless network would require an encryption key that is separate and distinct from the encryption key required by the primary wireless network. A change in the encryption key on the duplicate wireless network would not impact users/devices on the primary wireless network. Duplication of the infrastructure is, however, expensive.